Long-term effects of musical training and functional plasticity in salience system

Compensation or Preservation? Different Roles of Functional Lateralization in Speech Perception of Older Non-musicians and Musicians

Musical training can counteract age-related decline in speech perception in noisy environments. However, it remains unclear whether older non-musicians and musicians rely on functional compensation or functional preservation to counteract the adverse effects of aging. This study utilized resting-state functional connectivity (FC) to investigate functional lateralization, a fundamental organization feature, in older musicians (OM), older non-musicians (ONM), and young non-musicians (YNM). Results showed that OM outperformed ONM and achieved comparable performance to YNM in speech-in-noise and speech-in-speech tasks. ONM exhibited reduced lateralization than YNM in lateralization index (LI) of intrahemispheric FC (LI_intra) in the cingulo-opercular network (CON) and LI of interhemispheric heterotopic FC (LI_he) in the language network (LAN). Conversely, OM showed higher neural alignment to YNM (i.e., a more similar lateralization pattern) compared to ONM in CON, LAN, frontoparietal network (FPN), dorsal attention network (DAN), and default mode network (DMN), indicating preservation of youth-like lateralization patterns due to musical experience. Furthermore, in ONM, stronger left-lateralized and lower alignment-to-young of LI_intra in the somatomotor network (SMN) and DAN and LI_he in DMN correlated with better speech performance, indicating a functional compensation mechanism. In contrast, stronger right-lateralized LI_intra in FPN and DAN and higher alignment-to-young of LI_he in LAN correlated with better performance in OM, suggesting a functional preservation mechanism. These findings highlight the differential roles of functional preservation and compensation of lateralization in speech perception in noise among elderly individuals with and without musical expertise, offering insights into successful aging theories from the lens of functional lateralization and speech perception.

Musical experience influences socio-emotional functioning in behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia

Objectives

On phenotypic and neuroanatomical grounds, music exposure might potentially affect the clinical expression of behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). However, this has not been clarified.

Methods

14 consecutive patients with bvFTD fulfilling consensus diagnostic criteria were recruited via a specialist cognitive clinic. Earlier life musical experience, current musical listening habits and general socio-emotional behaviours were scored using a bespoke semi-quantitative musical survey and standardised functional scales, completed with the assistance of patients' primary caregivers. Associations of musical scores with behavioural scales were assessed using a linear regression model adjusted for age, sex, educational attainment and level of executive and general cognitive impairment.

Results

Greater earlier life musical experience was associated with significantly lower Cambridge Behavioural Inventory (Revised) scores (β ± SE = -17.2 ± 5.2; p = 0.01) and higher Modified Interpersonal Reactivity Index (MIRI) perspective-taking scores (β ± SE = 2.8 ± 1.1; p = 0.03), after adjusting for general cognitive ability. Number of hours each week currently spent listening to music was associated with higher MIRI empathic concern (β ± SE = 0.7 ± 0.21; p = 0.015) and MIRI total scores (β ± SE = 1.1 ± 0.34; p = 0.014).

Discussion

Musical experience in earlier life and potentially ongoing regular music listening may ameliorate socio-emotional functioning in bvFTD. Future work in larger cohorts is required to substantiate the robustness of this association, establish its mechanism and evaluate its clinical potential.

Resting-state functional connectivity in an auditory network differs between aspiring professional and amateur musicians and correlates with performance

Auditory experience-dependent plasticity is often studied in the domain of musical expertise. Available evidence suggests that years of musical practice are associated with structural and functional changes in auditory cortex and related brain regions. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used to investigate neural correlates of musical training and expertise beyond specific task influences. Here, we compared two groups of musicians with varying expertise: 24 aspiring professional musicians preparing for their entrance exam at Universities of Arts versus 17 amateur musicians without any such aspirations but who also performed music on a regular basis. We used an interval recognition task to define task-relevant brain regions and computed functional connectivity and graph-theoretical measures in this network on separately acquired resting-state data. Aspiring professionals performed significantly better on all behavioral indicators including interval recognition and also showed significantly greater network strength and global efficiency than amateur musicians. Critically, both average network strength and global efficiency were correlated with interval recognition task performance assessed in the scanner, and with an additional measure of interval identification ability. These findings demonstrate that task-informed resting-state fMRI can capture connectivity differences that correspond to expertise-related differences in behavior.

Interoception and the musical brain: Evidence from cross-sectional and longitudinal behavioral and resting-state fMRI study

Musical training has been linked to enhanced interoceptive abilities and increased resting-state (RS) functional connectivity (FC) within the interoceptive brain network. We aimed to replicate and extend these findings with a unique cross-sectional and longitudinal study design. Professional musicians and matched individuals with no prior musical experience (training group) were recruited. Participants underwent RS fMRI scans and completed heartbeat counting and discrimination tasks outside of the scanner (time point 1). The training group additionally had RS scans and interoception tests repeated after a 6-month-long keyboard course training (time point 2). We found no evidence for increased interoceptive abilities in professional musicians relative to non-musicians, nor did we observe any improvements in interoception over the course of musical training. RS FC analysis revealed increased FC within the sensorimotor network in professional musicians compared to the training group at the first time point with no change in FC over time in the Training group. These findings challenge the view that musical training may improve interoceptive abilities. Yet, the results suggest that musical training is related to increased communication within the sensorimotor RS network, which consists of some hubs important for interoceptive processing (namely pre- and postcentral gyri and supplementary motor area).

Aging of Amateur Singers and Non-singers: From Behavior to Resting-state Connectivity

Healthy aging is associated with extensive changes in brain structure and physiology, with impacts on cognition and communication. The "mental exercise hypothesis" proposes that certain lifestyle factors such as singing-perhaps the most universal and accessible music-making activity-can affect cognitive functioning and reduce cognitive decline in aging, but the neuroplastic mechanisms involved remain unclear. To address this question, we examined the association between age and resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) in 84 healthy singers and nonsingers in five networks (auditory, speech, language, default mode, and dorsal attention) and its relationship to auditory cognitive aging. Participants underwent cognitive testing and fMRI. Our results show that RSFC is not systematically lower with aging and that connectivity patterns vary between singers and nonsingers. Furthermore, our results show that RSFC of the precuneus in the default mode network was associated with auditory cognition. In these regions, lower RSFC was associated with better auditory cognitive performance for both singers and nonsingers. Our results show, for the first time, that basic brain physiology differs in singers and nonsingers and that some of these differences are associated with cognitive performance.

Resting-state brain connectivity correlates of musical sophistication

Introduction

A growing body of research has investigated how performing arts training, and more specifically, music training, impacts the brain. Recent meta-analytic work has identified multiple brain areas where activity varies as a function of levels of musical expertise gained through music training. However, research has also shown that musical sophistication may be high even without music training. Thus, we aim to extend previous work by investigating whether the functional connectivity of these areas relates to interindividual differences in musical sophistication, and to characterize differences in connectivity attributed to performing arts training.

Methods

We analyzed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging from n = 74 participants, of whom 37 received performing arts training, that is, including a musical instrument, singing, and/or acting, at university level. We used a validated, continuous measure of musical sophistication to further characterize our sample. Following standard pre-processing, fifteen brain areas were identified a priori based on meta-analytic work and used as seeds in separate seed-to-voxel analyses to examine the effect of musical sophistication across the sample, and between-group analyses to examine the effects of performing arts training.

Results

Connectivity of bilateral superior temporal gyrus, bilateral precentral gyrus and cerebellum, and bilateral putamen, left insula, and left thalamus varied with different aspects of musical sophistication. By including these measures of these aspects as covariates in post hoc analyses, we found that connectivity of the right superior temporal gyrus and left precentral gyrus relate to effects of performing arts training beyond effects of individual musical sophistication.

Discussion

Our results highlight the potential role of sensory areas in active engagement with music, the potential role of motor areas in emotion processing, and the potential role of connectivity between putamen and lingual gyrus in general musical sophistication.

A correlation study of music training, adult attachment, and personality traits using a large-sample questionnaire

Introduction

Music training can provide benefits to psychological health and is strongly associated with adult attachment style and personality traits through bidirectional interactions.

Methods

A large sample including 10,191 Chinese musicians and non-musicians completed the Relationship Questionnaire and Big-Five Personality Inventory.

Results

Connections between music training, adult attachment, and personality were analyzed with the following results: (1) personality traits were correlated with attachment dimensions, with positive correlations between secure attachment and extroversion and between dismissing attachment and neuroticism; (2) music training was connected with the secure and fearful-avoidant attachment dimensions, which complemented the effect of educational level in the preoccupied and dismissing dimensions; (3) music training enhanced extroversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, which interacted to affect extroversion and openness by gender; and (4) music training enhanced the regression of extroversion to preoccupied and secure attachments, and the regression of openness to preoccupied attachment.

Discussion

Conclusively, music training enhanced the connection between secure attachment and positive personality traits and regulated the correlation between insecure attachment and neuroticism. This analysis provides a large sample of statistical and practical evidence for the clinical practices of mental health and the educational and music training practices of co-cultivating cultural knowledge and artistic quality.

Hyperscanning fNIRS data analysis using multiregression dynamic models: an illustration in a violin duo

Introduction

Interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) demands a greater understanding of a brain's influence on others. Therefore, brain synchronization is an even more complex system than intrasubject brain connectivity and must be investigated. There is a need to develop novel methods for statistical inference in this context.

Methods

In this study, motivated by the analysis of fNIRS hyperscanning data, which measure the activity of multiple brains simultaneously, we propose a two-step network estimation: Tabu search local method and global maximization in the selected subgroup [partial conditional directed acyclic graph (DAG) + multiregression dynamic model]. We illustrate this approach in a dataset of two individuals who are playing the violin together.

Results

This study contributes new tools to the social neuroscience field, which may provide new perspectives about intersubject interactions. Our proposed approach estimates the best probabilistic network representation, in addition to providing access to the time-varying parameters, which may be helpful in understanding the brain-to-brain association of these two players.

Discussion

The illustration of the violin duo highlights the time-evolving changes in the brain activation of an individual influencing the other one through a data-driven analysis. We confirmed that one player was leading the other given the ROI causal relation toward the other player.

Trait representation of embodied cognition in dancers pivoting on the extended mirror neuron system: a resting-state fMRI study

Introduction

Dance is an art form that integrates the body and mind through movement. Dancers develop exceptional physical and mental abilities that involve various neurocognitive processes linked to embodied cognition. We propose that dancers' primary trait representation is movement-actuated and relies on the extended mirror neuron system (eMNS).

Methods

A total of 29 dancers and 28 non-dancer controls were recruited. A hierarchical approach of intra-regional and inter-regional functional connectivity (FC) analysis was adopted to probe trait-like neurodynamics within and between regions in the eMNS during rest. Correlation analyses were employed to examine the associations between dance training, creativity, and the FC within and between different brain regions.

Results

Within the eMNS, dancers exhibited increased intra-regional FC in various brain regions compared to non-dancers. These regions include the left inferior frontal gyrus, left ventral premotor cortex, left anterior insula, left posterior cerebellum (crus II), and bilateral basal ganglia (putamen and globus pallidus). Dancers also exhibited greater intrinsic inter-regional FC between the cerebellum and the core/limbic mirror areas within the eMNS. In dancers, there was a negative correlation observed between practice intensity and the intrinsic FC within the eMNS involving the cerebellum and basal ganglia. Additionally, FCs from the basal ganglia to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were found to be negatively correlated with originality in dancers.

Discussion

Our results highlight the proficient communication within the cortical-subcortical hierarchy of the eMNS in dancers, linked to the automaticity and cognitive-motor interactions acquired through training. Altered functional couplings in the eMNS can be regarded as a unique neural signature specific to virtuoso dancers, which might predispose them for skilled dancing performance, perception, and creation.

Extensive Sensorimotor Training Predetermines Central Pain Changes During the Development of Prolonged Muscle Pain

Repetitive movements (RM) are a main risk factor for musculoskeletal pain, which is partly explained by the overloading of musculoskeletal structures. However, RM may also drive brain plasticity, leading to maladaptive changes in sensorimotor areas and altered pain processing. This study aimed to understand whether individuals performing extensive RM (musicians) exhibit altered brain processing to prolonged experimental muscle pain. Nineteen healthy musicians and 20 healthy nontrained controls attended 3 sessions (Day 1-Day 3-Day 8). In each session, event-related potentials (ERPs) to non-nociceptive superficial and nociceptive intraepidermal electrical stimulation, reaction times, electrical detection thresholds, and pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) were recorded. In all participants, prolonged muscle pain was induced by intramuscular injection of nerve growth factor (NGF) into the right first dorsal interosseous muscle at the end of Day1. Pain intensity was assessed on a numerical rating scale (NRS) and was lower in musicians compared to non-musicians (P < .007). Moreover, in musicians, the higher amount of weekly training was associated with lower NRS pain scores on Day 3 to Day 8 (P < .037). Compared with Day1, NGF reduced PPTs on Day 3 to Day 8 (P < .001) and non-nociceptive P200 and P300 ERP amplitudes on Day 8 (P < .044) in both groups. Musicians compared to controls showed secondary hyperalgesia to electrical stimulation on Day 3 to Day 8 (P < .004) and reduced nociceptive P200 ERP amplitudes on Day 8 (P < .005). Across participants, ERP components correlated with pain detection reaction times, sensitivity (PPTs and electrical detection thresholds), and severity (NRS), (all P < .043). These results show that repetitive sensorimotor training leads to brain changes in the processing of prolonged pain, biasing the cortical response to nociceptive inputs. PERSPECTIVE: Repetitive sensorimotor training may increase the responsiveness of nociceptive inputs during the development of prolonged muscle pain. These novel data highlight the role of repetitive sensorimotor practice as a source for interindividual variability in central pain processing.

Extensive sensorimotor training enhances nociceptive cortical responses in healthy individuals

BACKGROUND

Prolonged and repeated sensorimotor training is a crucial driver for promoting use-dependent plasticity, but also a main risk factor for developing musculoskeletal pain syndromes, yet the neural underpinnings that link repetitive movements to abnormal pain processing are unknown.

METHODS

Twenty healthy musicians, one of the best in vivo models to study use-dependent plasticity, and 20 healthy non-musicians were recruited. Perceptual thresholds, reaction times (RTs) and event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded using nociceptive intra-epidermal and non-nociceptive transcutaneous electrical stimulation.

RESULTS

In response to comparable stimulus intensities, musicians compared to non-musicians showed larger non-nociceptive N140 (associated with higher activation of regions within the salience network), higher nociceptive N200 ERPs (associated with higher activation of regions within the sensorimotor network) and faster RTs to both stimuli. Non-musicians showed larger non-nociceptive P200 ERP. Notably, a similar P200 component prominently emerged during nociceptive stimulation in non-musicians. Across participants, larger N140 and N200 ERPs were associated with RTs, whereas the amount of daily practice in musicians explained non-nociceptive P200 and nociceptive P300 ERPs.

CONCLUSIONS

These novel findings indicate that the mechanisms by which extensive sensorimotor training promotes use-dependent plasticity in multisensory neural structures may also shape the neural signatures of nociceptive processing in healthy individuals.

SIGNIFICANCE

Repetitive sensorimotor training may increase the responsiveness of nociceptive evoked potentials. These novel data highlight the importance of repetitive sensorimotor practice as a contributing factor to the interindividual variability of nociceptive-related potentials.

Different Music Training Modulates Theta Brain Oscillations Associated with Executive Function

Different music training involves different hand coordination levels and may have a significant influence on brain oscillation for the executive function. However, few research has focused on the plasticity of executive function and the brain oscillation modulated by different musical instrument training modules. In this study, we recruited 18 string musicians, 20 pianists, and 19 non-musicians to perform a bimanual key pressing task during EEG recording. Behavioral results revealed that pianists have the highest accuracy and the shortest response time, followed by string musicians and non-musicians (p < 0.05). Time-frequency analyses of EEG revealed that pianists generated significantly greater theta power than the other groups from 500 ms to 800 ms post-stimulus in mid-central, frontal brain areas, and motor control areas. Functional connectivity analyses found that the pianists showed significantly greater connectivity in the frontal-parietal area in theta band based on phase-locking value analysis, which suggests that piano training improves executive function and enhances the connectivity between prefrontal and mid-central regions. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the effects of different music training on executive function.

Musical Expertise Shapes Functional and Structural Brain Networks Independent of Absolute Pitch Ability

Professional musicians are a popular model for investigating experience-dependent plasticity in human large-scale brain networks. A minority of musicians possess absolute pitch, the ability to name a tone without reference. The study of absolute pitch musicians provides insights into how a very specific talent is reflected in brain networks. Previous studies of the effects of musicianship and absolute pitch on large-scale brain networks have yielded highly heterogeneous findings regarding the localization and direction of the effects. This heterogeneity was likely influenced by small samples and vastly different methodological approaches. Here, we conducted a comprehensive multimodal assessment of effects of musicianship and absolute pitch on intrinsic functional and structural connectivity using a variety of commonly used and state-of-the-art multivariate methods in the largest sample to date (n = 153 female and male human participants; 52 absolute pitch musicians, 51 non-absolute pitch musicians, and 50 non-musicians). Our results show robust effects of musicianship in interhemispheric and intrahemispheric connectivity in both structural and functional networks. Crucially, most of the effects were replicable in both musicians with and without absolute pitch compared with non-musicians. However, we did not find evidence for an effect of absolute pitch on intrinsic functional or structural connectivity in our data: The two musician groups showed strikingly similar networks across all analyses. Our results suggest that long-term musical training is associated with robust changes in large-scale brain networks. The effects of absolute pitch on neural networks might be subtle, requiring very large samples or task-based experiments to be detected.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT A question that has fascinated neuroscientists, psychologists, and musicologists for a long time is how musicianship and absolute pitch, the rare talent to name a tone without reference, are reflected in large-scale networks of the human brain. Much is still unknown as previous studies have reported widely inconsistent results based on small samples. Here, we investigate the largest sample of musicians and non-musicians to date (n = 153) using a multitude of established and novel analysis methods. Results provide evidence for robust effects of musicianship on functional and structural networks that were replicable in two separate groups of musicians and independent of absolute pitch ability.

Modifications in the Topological Structure of EEG Functional Connectivity Networks during Listening Tonal and Atonal Concert Music in Musicians and Non-Musicians

The present work aims to demonstrate the hypothesis that atonal music modifies the topological structure of electroencephalographic (EEG) connectivity networks in relation to tonal music. To this, EEG monopolar records were taken in musicians and non-musicians while listening to tonal, atonal, and pink noise sound excerpts. EEG functional connectivities (FC) among channels assessed by a phase synchronization index previously thresholded using surrogate data test were computed. Sound effects, on the topological structure of graph-based networks assembled with the EEG-FCs at different frequency-bands, were analyzed throughout graph metric and network-based statistic (NBS). Local and global efficiency normalized (vs. random-network) measurements (NLE|NGE) assessing network information exchanges were able to discriminate both music styles irrespective of groups and frequency-bands. During tonal audition, NLE and NGE values in the beta-band network get close to that of a small-world network, while during atonal and even more during noise its structure moved away from small-world. These effects were attributed to the different timbre characteristics (sounds spectral centroid and entropy) and different musical structure. Results from networks topographic maps for strength and NLE of the nodes, and for FC subnets obtained from the NBS, allowed discriminating the musical styles and verifying the different strength, NLE, and FC of musicians compared to non-musicians.

Altered Functional Integration in the Salience and Default Mode Networks in Euthymic Pediatric Bipolar Disorder

Accumulating studies demonstrate emotional and cognitive dysregulation in the euthymic period of pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD). However, the relative contribution of functional integration in human brain to disturbed emotion and cognitive function in the euthymic PBD patients remains unclear. In this study, 16 euthymic PBD patients and 16 healthy controls underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. A data-driven functional connectivity analysis was used to investigate functional connectivity changes of the euthymic PBD. Compared with healthy controls, the euthymic PBD exhibited greater global functional connectivity density in the left anterior insula and lower global functional connectivity density in the right temporoparietal junction, the left angular gyrus, and the bilateral occipital lobule. A distant functional connectivity analysis demonstrated altered integration within the salience and default mode networks in euthymic PBD. Correlation analysis found that altered functional connectivity of the salience network was related to the reduced performance in the backward digit span test, and altered functional connectivity of the default mode network was related to the Young Mania Rating Scale in euthymic PBD patients. Our findings indicated that disturbed functional integration in salience and default mode networks might shed light on the physiopathology associated with emotional and cognitive dysregulation in PBD.

Altered Brain Functional Connectivity Density in Fast-Ball Sports Athletes With Early Stage of Motor Training

The human brain shows neuroplastic adaptations caused by motor skill training. Of note, there is little known about the plastic architecture of the whole-brain network in resting state. The purpose of the present study was to detect how motor training affected the density distribution of whole-brain resting-state functional connectivity (FC). Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data was assessed based on a comparison of fast-ball student athletes (SA) and non-athlete healthy controls (NC). The voxel-wise data-driven graph theory approach, global functional connectivity density (gFCD) mapping, was applied. Results showed that the SA group exhibited significantly decreased gFCD in brain regions centered at the left triangular part of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), extending to the opercular part of the left IFG and middle frontal gyrus compared to the NC group. In addition, findings suggested the idea of an increased neural efficiency of athletes’ brain regions associated with attentional–motor modulation and executive control. Furthermore, behavioral results showed that in the SA group, faster executive control reaction time relates to smaller gFCD values in the left IFG. These findings suggested that the motor training would decrease the numbers of FC in IFG to accelerate the executive control with high attentional demands and enable SA to rapidly focus the attention to detect the intriguing target.

Music Making and Neuropsychological Aging: A Review

Aging is associated with a decline in social understanding and general cognition. Both are integral to wellbeing and rely on similar brain regions. Thus, as the population ages, there is a growing need for knowledge on the types of activities that maintain brain health in older adulthood. Active engagement in music making might be one such activity because it places a demand on brain networks tapping into multisensory integration, learning, reward, and cognition. It has been hypothesized that this demand may promote plasticity in the frontal and temporal lobes by taxing cognitive abilities and, hence, increase resistance to age-related neurodegeneration. We examine research relevant to this hypothesis and note that there is a lack of intervention studies with a well-matched control condition and random assignment. Thus, we discuss potential causal mechanisms underlying training-related neuropsychological changes, and provide suggestions for future research. It is argued that although music training might be a valuable tool for supporting healthy neuropsychological aging and mental wellbeing, well-controlled intervention studies are necessary to provide clear evidence.

New Perspectives on Music in Rehabilitation of Executive and Attention Functions

Modern music therapy, starting around the middle of the twentieth century was primarily conceived to promote emotional well-being and to facilitate social group association and integration. Therefore, it was rooted mostly in social science concepts. More recently, music as therapy began to move decidedly toward perspectives of neuroscience. This has been facilitated by the advent of neuroimaging techniques that help uncover the therapeutic mechanisms for non-musical goals in the brain processes underlying music perception, cognition, and production. In this paper, we focus on executive function (EF) and attentional processes (AP) that are central for cognitive rehabilitation efforts. To this end, we summarize existing behavioral as well as neuroimaging and neurophysiological studies in musicians, non-musicians, and clinical populations. Musical improvisation and instrumental playing may have some potential for EF/AP stimulation and neurorehabilitation. However, more neuroimaging studies are needed to investigate the neural mechanisms for the active musical performance. Furthermore, more randomized clinical trials combined with neuroimaging techniques are warranted to demonstrate the specific efficacy and neuroplasticity induced by music-based interventions.

Abnormal Functional Connectivity in Cognitive Control Network, Default Mode Network, and Visual Attention Network in Internet Addiction: A Resting-State fMRI Study

Internet addiction (IA) has become a global mental and social problem, which may lead to a series of psychiatric symptoms including uncontrolled use of internet, and lack of concentration. However, the exact pathophysiology of IA remains unclear. Most of functional connectivity studies were based on pre-selected regions of interest (ROI), which could not provide a comprehensive picture of the communication abnormalities in IA, and might lead to limited or bias observations. Using local functional connectivity density (lFCD), this study aimed to explore the whole-brain abnormalities of functional connectivity in IA. We evaluated the whole-brain lFCD resulting from resting-state fMRI data in 28 IA individuals and 30 demographically matched healthy control subjects (HCs). The correlations between clinical characteristics and aberrant lFCD were also assessed. Compared with HCs, subjects with IA exhibited heightened lFCD values in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), left parahippocampal gyrus (PHG), and cerebellum, and the bilateral middle cingulate cortex (MCC) and superior temporal pole (STP), as well as decreased lFCD values in the right inferior parietal lobe (IPL), and bilateral calcarine and lingual gyrus. Voxel-based correlation analysis revealed the significant correlations between the Young's Internet Addiction Test (IAT) score and altered lFCD values in the left PHG and bilateral STP. These findings revealed the hyper-connectivity in cognitive control network and default mode network as well as the hypo-connectivity in visual attention network, verifying the common mechanism in IA and substance addiction, and the underlying association between IA, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in terms of neurobiology.

Different role of the supplementary motor area and the insula between musicians and non-musicians in a controlled musical creativity task

The ability to compose creative musical ideas depends on the cooperation of brain mechanisms involved in multiple processes, including controlled creative cognition, which is a type of creativity that has so far been poorly researched. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the brain evoked activations by using fMRI, in both musicians and non-musicians, during a general task of controlled musical creativity and its relationship with general creativity. Results revealed that during a rhythmic improvisation task, musicians show greater activation of the motor supplementary area, the anterior cingulate cortex, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and the insula, along with greater deactivation of the default mode network in comparison with non-musicians. For the group of musicians, we also found a positive correlation between the time improvising and the activation of the supplementary motor area, whilst in the non-musicians group improvisation time correlated with the activation of the insula. The results found for the musicians support the notion that the supplementary motor area plays a role in the representation and execution of musical behaviour, while the results in non-musicians reveal the role of the insula in the processing of novel musical information.

Experience-dependent neuroplasticity in trained musicians modulates the effects of chronic pain on insula-based networks - A resting-state fMRI study

Recent resting-state fMRI studies associated extensive musical training with increased insula-based connectivity in large-scale networks involved in salience, emotion, and higher-order cognitive processes. Similar changes have also been found in chronic pain patients, suggesting that both types of experiences can have comparable effects on insula circuitries. Based on these observations, the current study asked the question whether, and if so in what way, different forms of experience-dependent neuroplasticity may interact. Here we assessed insula-based connectivity during fMRI resting-state between musicians and non-musicians both with and without chronic pain, and correlated the results with clinical pain duration and intensity. As expected, insula connectivity was increased in chronic pain non-musicians relative to healthy non-musicians (with cingulate cortex and supplementary motor area), yet no differences were found between chronic pain non-musicians and healthy musicians. In contrast, musicians with chronic pain showed decreased insula connectivity relative to both healthy musicians (with sensorimotor and memory regions) and chronic pain non-musicians (with the hippocampus, inferior temporal gyrus, and orbitofrontal cortex), as well as lower pain-related inferences with daily activities. Pain duration correlated positively with insula connectivity only in non-musicians, whereas pain intensity exhibited distinct relationships across groups. We conclude that although music-related sensorimotor training and chronic pain, taken in isolation, can lead to increased insula-based connectivity, their combination may lead to higher-order plasticity (metaplasticity) in chronic pain musicians, engaging brain mechanisms that can modulate the consequences of maladaptive experience-dependent neural reorganization (i.e., pain chronification).

Music in premature infants enhances high-level cognitive brain networks

Preterm babies are cared for in neonatal intensive care units (NICU), which are busy places with a lot of mechanical noise increasingly recognized to disrupt normal brain development. NICUs therefore invest in developmental care procedures, with music for example, but neurobiological evidence for these interventions is missing. We present results from a clinical trial to study the effects of a music intervention on preterm infants’ brain development. Based on resting-state fMRI, we provide evidence that music enhanced connectivity in a brain circuitry involving the salience network with regions implicated in sensory and higher-order cognitive functions, previously found to be altered in preterm infants. To our knowledge, this study is unique in observing an impact of music on brain development in preterm newborns.

Neonatal intensive care units are willing to apply environmental enrichment via music for preterm newborns. However, no evidence of an effect of music on preterm brain development has been reported to date. Using resting-state fMRI, we characterized a circuitry of interest consisting of three network modules interconnected by the salience network that displays reduced network coupling in preterm compared with full-term newborns. Interestingly, preterm infants exposed to music in the neonatal intensive care units have significantly increased coupling between brain networks previously shown to be decreased in premature infants: the salience network with the superior frontal, auditory, and sensorimotor networks, and the salience network with the thalamus and precuneus networks. Therefore, music exposure leads to functional brain architectures that are more similar to those of full-term newborns, providing evidence for a beneficial effect of music on the preterm brain.

Insular changes induced by electroconvulsive therapy response to symptom improvements in schizophrenia

Although modified electroconvulsive therapy (MECT) has been employed as a treatment strategy and to resolve medication resistant symptoms in schizophrenia (SZ), its action mechanisms remain unclear. The insula has been demonstrated to associate with clinical symptoms and neuropathology in SZ. This study examined whether insular changes response to MECT outcomes in SZ. Forty-two SZ were divided into two groups according to their treatment strategies. One group (MSZ, n = 21) received 4-weeks MECT together with antipsychotics; another group (DSZ, n = 21) was treated only with antipsychotics. Twenty-three healthy controls (HC) were also included. Structural and functional MRI were scanned twice (baseline and after 4-week treatment) for SZ and once for HC. Firstly, the insula was divided into three subregions based on resting-state functional connectivity (FC). Subsequently, gray matter volume (GMV) and voxel-wise FC were assessed in each subregion. Finally, the relationship between insular changes and symptom improvements was also investigated. Compared with baseline, the DSZ group showed reduced GMV in insular subregions. In contrast, the MSZ group exhibited increased GMV in bilateral posterior insula (PIns); furthermore, the increase in the PIns was correlated with symptom improvements. Second, the decreased FC between right PIns and left orbitofrontal cortex, and left PIns and middle occipital gyrus was observed only in the MSZ group; moreover, these FC changes were associated with symptom improvements. The present study demonstrated that MECT induced insular changes, which may contribute to the mechanisms of MECT.

Individualized goal directed dance rehabilitation in chronic state of severe traumatic brain injury: A case study

Few long-term studies report late outcomes after severe traumatic brain injury. New rehabilitation techniques are needed for this heterogenous patient group. We present a dance intervention six and half years after an extreme severe TBI including excessive diffuse axonal injury, which disconnects the brain networks. Given the fact, that efficient brain function depends on the integrated operation of large-scale brain networks like default mode network (DMN), we created an intervention with multisensory and multimodal approach and goal-directed behavior. The intervention lasted four months including weekly one-hour dance lessons with the help of a physiotherapist and dance teacher. The measures included functional independence measure (FIM), repeated electroencephalogram (EEG) analysis of three subnets of DMN and clinical evaluations and observations. The results showed clear improvement after the intervention, and FIM stayed in elevated level during several years after the intervention. We present suggestion for further studies using larger patient groups.

Disrupted Coupling Between the Spontaneous Fluctuation and Functional Connectivity in Idiopathic Generalized Epilepsy

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to comprehensively evaluate alterations of resting-state spontaneous brain activity in patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) and its subgroups [juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) and generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTCS)]. Methods: Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were acquired from 60 patients with IGE and 60 healthy controls (HCs). Amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF), global functional connectivity density (gFCD), local FCD (lFCD), and long range FCD (lrFCD) were used to evaluate spontaneous brain activity in the whole brain. Moreover, the coupling between ALFF and FCDs (gFCD, lFCD, and lrFCD) was analyzed on both voxel-wise and subject-wise levels. Two-sample t-tests were used to analyze the difference in ALFF, FCDs and coupling on a subject-wise level between the two groups. Nonparametric permutation tests were used to evaluate differences in coupling on a voxel-wise level. Key findings: Patients with IGE and its subgroups showed reduced ALFF, gFCD and lrFCD in posterior regions of the default mode network (DMN). In addition, decreased ALFF and increased coupling with FCD were found in the cerebellum, while decreased coupling was observed in the bilateral pre- and postcentral gyrus in IGE compared with the coupling in HCs. Similar findings were found in the analysis between each of the two subgroups of IGE (JME and GTCS) and HCs, and JME patients had increased coupling in the cerebellum and bilateral middle occipital gyrus compared with coupling in the GTCS patients. Significance: This study demonstrated a multifactor abnormality of the DMN in IGE and emphasized that the abnormality in the cerebellum was associated with dysfunctional motor symptoms during seizures and might participate in the regulation of GSWDs in IGE.

Neuroscience Information Toolbox: An Open Source Toolbox for EEG-fMRI Multimodal Fusion Analysis

Recently, scalp electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) multimodal fusion has been pursued in an effort to study human brain function and dysfunction to obtain more comprehensive information on brain activity in which the spatial and temporal resolutions are both satisfactory. However, a more flexible and easy-to-use toolbox for EEG–fMRI multimodal fusion is still lacking. In this study, we therefore developed a freely available and open-source MATLAB graphical user interface toolbox, known as the Neuroscience Information Toolbox (NIT), for EEG–fMRI multimodal fusion analysis. The NIT consists of three modules: (1) the fMRI module, which has batch fMRI preprocessing, nuisance signal removal, bandpass filtering, and calculation of resting-state measures; (2) the EEG module, which includes artifact removal, extracting EEG features (event onset, power, and amplitude), and marking interesting events; and (3) the fusion module, in which fMRI-informed EEG analysis and EEG-informed fMRI analysis are included. The NIT was designed to provide a convenient and easy-to-use toolbox for researchers, especially for novice users. The NIT can be downloaded for free at http://www.neuro.uestc.edu.cn/NIT.html, and detailed information, including the introduction of NIT, user’s manual and example data sets, can also be observed on this website. We hope that the NIT is a promising toolbox for exploring brain information in various EEG and fMRI studies.

Resting state fMRI reveals the altered synchronization of BOLD signals in essential tremor

Essential tremor (ET) is one of the most common movement disorders in humans. Nevertheless, there remain several controversies surrounding ET, such as whether it is a disorder of abnormal neuronal oscillations within the tremor network. In this work, the resting-state fMRI data were collected from 17 ET patients and 17 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. First, using FOur-dimensional (spatiotemporal) Consistency of local neural Activities (FOCA) the abnormal synchronization of fMRI signals in ET patients were investigated. Then, global functional connectivity intensity (gFCI) and density (gFCD) were analyzed in the regions exhibiting significant FOCA differences. Compared with healthy controls, patients with ET showed the increased FOCA values found in the bilateral cuneus, the left lingual gyrus, the left paracentral lobule, the right middle temporal gyrus, the bilateral precentral gyrus, the right postcentral gyrus, the pallidum and putamen. Decreased FOCA values in ET patients were located in the frontal gyrus, the bilateral anterior cingulate and the medial dorsal nucleus of right thalamus. In ET patients, significant changes in gFCI and gFCD were located in the cuneus, the middle temporal gyrus and the middle frontal gyrus. Changes in gFCI were also found in the medial frontal gyrus and thalamus in addition to changes in gFCD in the precentral gyrus. Our results provided further evidence that ET might present with abnormal spontaneous activity in the tremor network, including motor-related cotex, basal ganglia and thalamus, as well as distributed non-motor areas. This work also demonstrated that FOCA and functional connectivity have the potential to provide important insight into the pathophysiological mechanism of ET.

Increased resting-state global functional connectivity density of default mode network in schizophrenia subjects treated with electroconvulsive therapy

Modified electroconvulsive therapy (MECT) has been widely applied to help treat schizophrenia patients who are treatment-resistant to pharmaceutical therapy. Although the technique is increasingly prevalent, the underlying neural mechanisms have not been well clarified. We conducted a longitudinal study to investigate the alteration of global functional connectivity density (gFCD) in schizophrenia patients undergoing MECT using resting state fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging). Two groups of schizophrenia inpatients were recruited. One group received a four-week MECT together with antipsychotic drugs (ECT+Drug, n=21); the other group only received antipsychotic drugs (Drug, n=21). Both groups were compared to a sample of healthy controls (HC, n=23). fMRI scans were obtained from the schizophrenia patients twice at baseline (t₁) and after 4-week treatment (t₂), and from healthy controls at baseline. gFCD was computed using resting state fMRI. Repeated ANCOVA showed a significant interaction effect of group×time in the schizophrenia patients in left precuneus (Pcu), ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vMPFC), and dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dMPFC) (GRF-corrected P<0.05), which are mainly located within the default mode network (DMN). Post-hoc analysis revealed that compared with baseline (t₁), an increased gFCD was found in the ECT+Drug group in the dMPFC (t=3.87, p=0.00095), vMPFC (t=3.95, p=0.00079) and left Pcu (t=3.33, p=0.0034), but no significant effect was identified in the Drug group. The results suggested that increased global functional connectivity density within the DMN might be one important neural mechanism of MECT in schizophrenia.

Pitch and Time Processing in Speech and Tones: The Effects of Musical Training and Attention

PURPOSE

Musical training is often linked to enhanced auditory discrimination, but the relative roles of pitch and time in music and speech are unclear. Moreover, it is unclear whether pitch and time processing are correlated across individuals and how they may be affected by attention. This study aimed to examine pitch and time processing in speech and tone sequences, taking musical training and attention into account.

METHOD

Musicians (16) and nonmusicians (16) were asked to detect pitch or timing changes in speech and tone sequences and make a binary response. In some conditions, the participants were focused on 1 aspect of the stimulus (directed attention), and in others, they had to pay attention to all aspects at once (divided attention).

RESULTS

As expected, musicians performed better overall. Performance scores on pitch and time tasks were correlated, as were performance scores for speech and tonal stimuli, but most markedly in musicians. All participants performed better on the directed versus divided attention task, but again, musicians performed better than nonmusicians.

CONCLUSION

In general, this experiment shows that individuals with a better sense of pitch discrimination also have a better sense of timing discrimination in the auditory domain. In addition, although musicians perform better overall, these results do not support the idea that musicians have an added advantage for divided attention tasks. These findings serve to better understand how musical training and attention affect pitch and time processing in the context of speech and tones and may have applications in special populations.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL

https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5895997.

Music Intervention Leads to Increased Insular Connectivity and Improved Clinical Symptoms in Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a syndrome that is typically accompanied by delusions and hallucinations that might be associated with insular pathology. Music intervention, as a complementary therapy, is commonly used to improve psychiatric symptoms in the maintenance stage of schizophrenia. In this study, we employed a longitudinal design to assess the effects of listening to Mozart music on the insular functional connectivity (FC) in patients with schizophrenia. Thirty-six schizophrenia patients were randomly divided into two equal groups as follows: the music intervention (MTSZ) group, which received a 1-month music intervention series combined with antipsychotic drugs, and the no-music intervention (UMTSZ) group, which was treated solely with antipsychotic drugs. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans were performed at the following three timepoints: baseline, 1 month after baseline and 6 months after baseline. Nineteen healthy participants were recruited as controls. An FC analysis seeded in the insular subregions and machine learning techniques were used to examine intervention-related changes. After 1 month of listening to Mozart music, the MTSZ showed increased FC in the dorsal anterior insula (dAI) and posterior insular (PI) networks, including the dAI-ACC, PI-pre/postcentral cortices, and PI-ACC connectivity. However, these enhanced FCs had vanished in follow-up visits after 6 months. Additionally, a support vector regression on the FC of the dAI-ACC at baseline yielded a significant prediction of relative symptom remission in response to music intervention. Furthermore, the validation analyses revealed that 1 month of music intervention could facilitate improvement of the insular FC in schizophrenia. Together, these findings revealed that the insular cortex could potentially be an important region in music intervention for patients with schizophrenia, thus improving the patients' psychiatric symptoms through normalizing the salience and sensorimotor networks.

Altered Functional Connectivity Density in Subtypes of Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) can be classified into tremor-dominant and akinetic-rigid subtypes, each of which exhibits a unique clinical course and prognosis. The neural basis for these disparate manifestations is not well-understood, however. This study comprehensively investigated the altered functional connectivity patterns of these two subtypes. Twenty-five tremor-dominant patients, 25 akinetic-rigid patients and 26 normal control subjects participated in this study. Resting-state functional MRI data were analyzed using functional connectivity density (FCD) and seed-based functional connectivity approaches. Correlations between neuroimaging measures and clinical variables were also calculated. Compared with normal control, increased global FCD occurred most extensively in frontal lobe and cerebellum in both subtypes. Compared with akinetic-rigid patients, the tremor-dominant patients showed significantly increased global FCD in the cerebellum and decreased global FCD in portions of the bilateral frontal lobe. Furthermore, different subtypes demonstrated different cerebello-cortical functional connectivity patterns. Moreover, the identified FCD and functional connectivity correlated significantly with clinical variables in the PD patients, and particularly the FCD indices distinguished the different subtypes with high sensitivity (95%) and specificity (80%). These findings indicate that the functional connectivity patterns in the cerebellum and frontal lobe are altered in both subtypes of PD, especially cerebellum are highly related to tremor.

Transdiagnostic differences in the resting-state functional connectivity of the prefrontal cortex in depression and schizophrenia

BACKGROUND

Depression and schizophrenia are two of the most serious psychiatric disorders. They share similar symptoms but the pathology-specific commonalities and differences remain unknown. This study was conducted to acquire a full picture of the functional alterations in schizophrenia and depression patients.

METHODS

The resting-state fMRI data from 20 patients with schizophrenia, 20 patients with depression and 20 healthy control subjects were collected. A data-driven approach that included local functional connectivity density (FCD) analysis combined with multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) was used to compare the three groups.

RESULTS

Based on the results of the MVPA, the local FCD value in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) can differentiate depression patients from schizophrenia patients. The patients with depression had a higher local FCD value in the medial and anterior parts of the OFC than the subjects in the other two groups, which suggested altered abstract and reward reinforces processing in depression patients. Subsequent functional connectivity analysis indicated that the connection in the prefrontal cortex was significantly lower in people with schizophrenia compared to people with depression and healthy controls.

LIMITATION

The systematically different medications for schizophrenia and depression may have different effects on functional connectivity.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggested that the resting-state functional connectivity pattern in the prefrontal cortex may be a transdiagnostic difference between depression and schizophrenia patients.

Insula-based networks in professional musicians: Evidence for increased functional connectivity during resting state fMRI

Despite considerable research on experience-dependent neuroplasticity in professional musicians, detailed understanding of an involvement of the insula is only now beginning to emerge. We investigated the effects of musical training on intrinsic insula-based connectivity in professional classical musicians relative to nonmusicians using resting-state functional MRI. Following a tripartite scheme of insula subdivisions, coactivation profiles were analyzed for the posterior, ventral anterior, and dorsal anterior insula in both hemispheres. While whole-brain connectivity across all participants confirmed previously reported patterns, between-group comparisons revealed increased insular connectivity in musicians relative to nonmusicians. Coactivated regions encompassed constituents of large-scale networks involved in salience detection (e.g., anterior and middle cingulate cortex), affective processing (e.g., orbitofrontal cortex and temporal pole), and higher order cognition (e.g., dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the temporoparietal junction), whereas no differences were found for the reversed group contrast. Importantly, these connectivity patterns were stronger in musicians who experienced more years of musical practice, including also sensorimotor regions involved in music performance (M1 hand area, S1, A1, and SMA). We conclude that musical training triggers significant reorganization in insula-based networks, potentially facilitating high-level cognitive and affective functions associated with the fast integration of multisensory information in the context of music performance. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4834-4849, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Connectivity patterns during music listening: Evidence for action-based processing in musicians

Musical expertise is visible both in the morphology and functionality of the brain. Recent research indicates that functional integration between multi-sensory, somato-motor, default-mode (DMN), and salience (SN) networks of the brain differentiates musicians from non-musicians during resting state. Here, we aimed at determining whether brain networks differentially exchange information in musicians as opposed to non-musicians during naturalistic music listening. Whole-brain graph-theory analyses were performed on participants' fMRI responses. Group-level differences revealed that musicians' primary hubs comprised cerebral and cerebellar sensorimotor regions whereas non-musicians' dominant hubs encompassed DMN-related regions. Community structure analyses of the key hubs revealed greater integration of motor and somatosensory homunculi representing the upper limbs and torso in musicians. Furthermore, musicians who started training at an earlier age exhibited greater centrality in the auditory cortex, and areas related to top-down processes, attention, emotion, somatosensory processing, and non-verbal processing of speech. We here reveal how brain networks organize themselves in a naturalistic music listening situation wherein musicians automatically engage neural networks that are action-based while non-musicians use those that are perception-based to process an incoming auditory stream. Hum Brain Mapp 38:2955-2970, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Functional abnormalities of the right posterior insula are related to the altered self-experience in schizophrenia

The insula is involved in detecting the salience of internal and external stimuli, and it plays a critical role in psychosis. Previous studies have demonstrated the structural and functional alterations of the insula in schizophrenia. To acquire a full picture of the functional alterations of the insula in schizophrenia, the resting-state fMRI data of 46 patients with schizophrenia and 46 healthy control subjects were collected. We used clustering analysis to divide the insula into three subregions: the dorsal anterior insula (dAI), ventral anterior insula (vAI) and posterior insula (PI). Then, whole-brain functional connectivity analysis was conducted based on these subregions. The results showed that the right dAI and PI in patients exhibited altered functional connections with the primary sensorimotor area. In addition, the right PI of the patients exhibited increased functional correlations with the thalamus. More importantly, the altered functional properties of the right PI were significantly correlated with the severity of the delusion and poor insight in schizophrenia. The results suggested that the right PI might play an important role in self-experience processing in schizophrenia. Accordingly, the right PI should be considered very important in the pathological mechanism of schizophrenia.

Effects of Cognitive Training on Resting-State Functional Connectivity of Default Mode, Salience, and Central Executive Networks

Neuroimaging studies have documented that aging can disrupt certain higher cognitive systems such as the default mode network (DMN), the salience network and the central executive network (CEN). The effect of cognitive training on higher cognitive systems remains unclear. This study used a 1-year longitudinal design to explore the cognitive training effect on three higher cognitive networks in healthy older adults. The community-living healthy older adults were divided into two groups: the multi-domain cognitive training group (24 sessions of cognitive training over a 3-months period) and the wait-list control group. All subjects underwent cognitive measurements and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning at baseline and at 1 year after the training ended. We examined training-related changes in functional connectivity (FC) within and between three networks. Compared with the baseline, we observed maintained or increased FC within all three networks after training. The scans after training also showed maintained anti-correlation of FC between the DMN and CEN compared to the baseline. These findings demonstrated that cognitive training maintained or improved the functional integration within networks and the coupling between the DMN and CEN in older adults. Our findings suggested that multi-domain cognitive training can mitigate the aging-related dysfunction of higher cognitive networks.

The Lateralization of Intrinsic Networks in the Aging Brain Implicates the Effects of Cognitive Training

Lateralization of function is an important organization of the human brain. The distribution of intrinsic networks in the resting brain is strongly related to cognitive function, gender and age. In this study, a longitudinal design with 1 year’s duration was used to evaluate the cognitive training effects on the lateralization of intrinsic networks among healthy older adults. The subjects were divided into two groups randomly: one with multi-domain cognitive training over 3 months and the other as a wait-list control group. Resting state fMRI data were acquired before training and 1 year after training. We analyzed the functional lateralization in 10 common resting state fMRI networks. We observed statically significant training effects on the lateralization of two important RSNs related to high-level cognition: right- and left- frontoparietal networks (FPNs). The lateralization of the left-FPN was retained especially well in the training group but decreased in the control group. The increased lateralization with aging was observed in the cerebellum network (CereN), in which the lateralization was significantly increased in the control group, although the same change tendency was observed in the training group. These findings indicate that the lateralization of the high-level cognitive intrinsic networks is sensitive to multi-domain cognitive training. This study provides neuroimaging evidence to support the hypothesis that cognitive training should have an advantage in preventing cognitive decline in healthy older adults.

Functional Integration between Salience and Central Executive Networks: A Role for Action Video Game Experience

Action video games (AVGs) have attracted increasing research attention as they offer a unique perspective into the relation between active learning and neural plasticity. However, little research has examined the relation between AVG experience and the plasticity of neural network mechanisms. It has been proposed that AVG experience is related to the integration between Salience Network (SN) and Central Executive Network (CEN), which are responsible for attention and working memory, respectively, two cognitive functions essential for AVG playing. This study initiated a systematic investigation of this proposition by analyzing AVG experts' and amateurs' resting-state brain functions through graph theoretical analyses and functional connectivity. Results reveal enhanced intra- and internetwork functional integrations in AVG experts compared to amateurs. The findings support the possible relation between AVG experience and the neural network plasticity.

It's Sad but I Like It: The Neural Dissociation Between Musical Emotions and Liking in Experts and Laypersons

Emotion-related areas of the brain, such as the medial frontal cortices, amygdala, and striatum, are activated during listening to sad or happy music as well as during listening to pleasurable music. Indeed, in music, like in other arts, sad and happy emotions might co-exist and be distinct from emotions of pleasure or enjoyment. Here we aimed at discerning the neural correlates of sadness or happiness in music as opposed those related to musical enjoyment. We further investigated whether musical expertise modulates the neural activity during affective listening of music. To these aims, 13 musicians and 16 non-musicians brought to the lab their most liked and disliked musical pieces with a happy and sad connotation. Based on a listening test, we selected the most representative 18 sec excerpts of the emotions of interest for each individual participant. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) recordings were obtained while subjects listened to and rated the excerpts. The cortico-thalamo-striatal reward circuit and motor areas were more active during liked than disliked music, whereas only the auditory cortex and the right amygdala were more active for disliked over liked music. These results discern the brain structures responsible for the perception of sad and happy emotions in music from those related to musical enjoyment. We also obtained novel evidence for functional differences in the limbic system associated with musical expertise, by showing enhanced liking-related activity in fronto-insular and cingulate areas in musicians.

Functional disconnection between the visual cortex and the sensorimotor cortex suggests a potential mechanism for self-disorder in schizophrenia

Self-disorder is a hallmark characteristic of schizophrenia. This deficit may stem from an inability to efficiently integrate multisensory bodily signals. Twenty-nine schizophrenia patients and thirty-one healthy controls underwent resting-state fMRI in this study. A data-driven method, functional connectivity density mapping (FCD), was used to investigate cortical functional connectivity changes in the patients. Areas with significantly different FCD were chosen to calculate functional connectivity maps. The schizophrenia patients exhibited increased local FCD in frontal areas while demonstrating decreased local FCD in the primary sensorimotor area and in the occipital lobe. The functional connectivity analysis illustrated decreased functional connectivity between visual areas and the primary sensorimotor area. These findings suggest disturbed integration in perception-motor processing, which may contribute to mapping the neural physiopathology associated with self-disorder in schizophrenia patients.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

Chinese Clinical Trial Registry. Registration number. ChiCTR-RCS-14004878.

The Brain Functional State of Music Creation: an fMRI Study of Composers

In this study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore the functional networks in professional composers during the creation of music. We compared the composing state and resting state imagery of 17 composers and found that the functional connectivity of primary networks in the bilateral occipital lobe and bilateral postcentral cortex decreased during the composing period. However, significantly stronger functional connectivity appeared between the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), the right angular gyrus and the bilateral superior frontal gyrus during composition. These findings indicate that a specific brain state of musical creation is formed when professional composers are composing, in which the integration of the primary visual and motor areas is not necessary. Instead, the neurons of these areas are recruited to enhance the functional connectivity between the ACC and the default mode network (DMN) to plan the integration of musical notes with emotion.

Identifying enhanced cortico-basal ganglia loops associated with prolonged dance training

Studies have revealed that prolonged, specialized training combined with higher cognitive conditioning induces enhanced brain alternation. In particular, dancers with long-term dance experience exhibit superior motor control and integration with their sensorimotor networks. However, little is known about the functional connectivity patterns of spontaneous intrinsic activities in the sensorimotor network of dancers. Our study examined the functional connectivity density (FCD) of dancers with a mean period of over 10 years of dance training in contrast with a matched non-dancer group without formal dance training using resting-state fMRI scans. FCD was mapped and analyzed, and the functional connectivity (FC) analyses were then performed based on the difference of FCD. Compared to the non-dancers, the dancers exhibited significantly increased FCD in the precentral gyri, postcentral gyri and bilateral putamen. Furthermore, the results of the FC analysis revealed enhanced connections between the middle cingulate cortex and the bilateral putamen and between the precentral and the postcentral gyri. All findings indicated an enhanced functional integration in the cortico-basal ganglia loops that govern motor control and integration in dancers. These findings might reflect improved sensorimotor function for the dancers consequent to long-term dance training.

Altered Brain Activation in Early Drug-Naive Parkinson's Disease during Heat Pain Stimuli: An fMRI Study

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by motor and nonmotor signs and symptoms. To date, many studies of PD have focused on its cardinal motor symptoms. To study the nonmotor signs of early PD, we investigated the reactions solicited by heat pain stimuli in early untreated PD patients without pain using fMRI. The activation patterns of contact heat stimuli (51°C) were assessed in 14 patients and 17 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Patients with PD showed significant decreases in activation of the superior temporal gyrus (STG) and insula compared with controls. In addition, a significant relationship between activation of the insula and STG and the pain scores was observed in healthy controls but not in PD. This study provided further support that the insula and STG are important parts of the somatosensory circuitry recruited during the period of pain. The hypoactivity of the STG and insula in PD implied that functions including affective, cognitive, and sensory-discriminative processes, which are associated with the insula and STG, were disturbed. This finding supports the view that leaving early PD untreated could be tied directly to central nervous system dysfunction.